Breakfast:
1 small coffee, with milk and sugar, cold.
2 slices of rye toast w/ butter.

Mid morning:
2 slices of rye toast w/ butter.

Lunch:
1 big serving of veggie rice w/ picked onions
Chrysanthemum tea w/ sugar

Driving back home
Chrysanthemum tea w/ sugar

Dinner:
2 savory pancakes (rice and farina) with vegetables.

Late night snack:
A handful of chips

I definitely eat better when I write it down! Also stopped by ye ol' grocery store and picked up healthy snacks (air popped corn- yum) and some salad.

Tuesday

Breakfast:
1 small coffee, with milk and sugar, cold.
2 slices of rye toast w/ butter.

Mid morning:
2 slices of rye toast w/ butter.

Lunch:
1 big serving of veggie rice w/ picked onions

Dinner:
Individual spinach pizza, on wheat, with garlic & balsamic, no cheese.
3 tiny chick pea fritters, baked
4 oz. cheddar

Late night snack:
A handful of chips

I find I always eat better the days I keep a food diary, and that is why I am trying to stick to it. Dinner worked really well, because I realize that I don't eat much, but really crave a smorgasbord type meal- makes me more full somehow, and less apt to snack later. I may be on to something here....

Good times

Have tons of work from now through Christmas, and therefore now, more than ever, I'd like to be healthy. The past week has been bad, as I realized this was going to happen, and wanted to just let loose until today. Therefore from today, we are back to some measure of healthy eating.

Breakfast:
1 small coffee, with milk and sugar, cold.
1 tomato sandwich- 1/2 of a small tomato slice in between toasted rye d, with salt, pepper and butter.

Mid morning:
Another tomato sandwich

Lunch:
1 big serving of veggie rice
3 small picked onions

Mid afternoon:

Dinner:
6 pieces of salmon and tuna sushi. 3 pieces of veg and shrimp tempura.

Late night snack:
2 pickled onions and a handful of chips.

I've become remarkably good at making savory rice/rice pilaf/pulao these days- ever since the husband has been abroad, I make a huge batch of come variation of pilaf every Sunday, which furnishes me with lunches for office for the entire coming week. This past weekend, I soaked a cup of white rice, and stir fried 1/2 a red onion, a cup of peas, 2 cups of spinach, and 1 tomato with a tsp each of dried fennel and cumin in a tsp of olive oil. Then added the soaked rice, covered and left on low heat for 15 minutes- made perfect pilaf with the grains of rice separating beautifully. Delicious, and fairly healthy.

Also made a quick onion pickle- I found tiny baby onions at the grocery store, and had to make this childhood favorite. To a dozen peeled baby onions (each no more than 1" wide), added 1/2 a cup of balsamic vinegar and the juice of 1 lemon. Its good to keep this in a jam jar, since we want the liquid to just cover the onions. Once done, cover the jar and keep on the counter for 1/2 a day, after which the onion pickles slightly and should be moved to the fridge. The pickle is ready between 1/2 - 1 day, and should be eaten within 2 weeks, since after that it will turn way too sour. Lime may be substituted for lemon, and results in a less sour version than when using lemon.

Met with an old friend for Sushi- which should be my last Sushi outing for a while: 1- its expensive, 2- the hub unit is back soon, and he pales at the idea of raw anything :)

All in all, a healthy day, except for the butter and the inevitable chips- ah well.

Because of an unexpected bounty of tomatoes from the garden, I am eating more of those than ever- the perfect ones make it into the freezer, whereas even a small blemish means I eat it as salad. Since the hubby is away, how much of one vegetable can a girl eat by herself? Luckily, I love tomato sandwiches.

Breakfast:
1 small coffee, with milk
1 tomato sandwich, on sourdough toast, dusted with black pepper and spread thinly with real butter (so simple, so good!)

Snack:
Another tomato sandwich.

Lunch:
Stir fried rice, with spinach, carrots, green onions, shitakes and red onion.
1 Yeo's chryanthemum tea, with sugar

Snack:
5 tiny apricots- these are small, so pretty much inhaled them.

Dinner:
2 Uttepam (savory rice pancakes), with tomatoes, green onions, spinach and carrots, with 1 tsp of ghee (clarified butter)

Late night snack:
Ramen
1 Pepsi, NOT diet

Even more late night snack:
1 square of chocolate
6 chips

Obviously, there was a lot of butter going on today. Need to scale back on that and the sugary drinks, the latter being my worst enemy. But on the plus side, I'm definitely eating more fruits and vegetables. The ramen was thankfully low sodium, so no guilt re: that. Tomorrow I eat meat! its been a week since I've had any red meat, and without any restriction, I may not have even noticed this fact. However, with the realization that I have made a resolution not to eat red meat more than once a weak, the cravings have been definitely kicking in :)

Suffarage Cook book

Found this cookbook on Project Gutenberg, which has to be read to be believed and truly enjoyed. Go to: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26323/26323-h/26323-h.htm

There are some insane recipes (one for "shrimp wiggle"- !!!!), but buried in there is an letter that is bound to motivate you to go read the whole thing, and see the photo of the woman who wrote this:

"I have sent but one recipe to a cook book, and that was a direction for driving a nail, as it has always been declared that women do not know how to drive nails. But that was when nails were a peculiar shape and had to be driven in particular way, but now that nails are made round there is no special way in which they need to be driven. So my favorite recipe cannot be given you.

As for my effort in the culinary line—I have not made an effort in the culinary line for more than at least thirty years, except once to make a clam pie, which was pronounced by my friends as very good. But I cannot remember how I made it. I have a favorite recipe, however, something of which I am very fond and which I might give to you. I got it out of the newspapers and it is as follows:

Spread one or two rashers of lean bacon on a baking tin, cover it thickly with slices of cheese, and sprinkle a little mustard and paprika over it. Bake it in a slow oven for half an hour and serve with slices of dry toast.

Now that is a particularly tasty dish if it is well done. I never did it, but somebody must be able to do it who could do it well.

Faithfully yours, Anna H. Shaw."

Priceless.

Yay!

So looks like the food diary idea is working!

Checked my weight this morning, and I am down 2 lbs- for a girl who cant exercise for another few months, this is wonderful news. Now if only I can continue to make this happen, we are golden!

So this is what I ate today:
Breakfast: Small coffee, with milk

Lunch: McDonalds' kidsmeal- chicken nuggets, fries, diet soda.

Midafternoon: Handful of thick cut potato chips.

Dinner: 2 chapatis, whole wheat, with stir fried okra and onions. Mango pickle.

Late night craving: tomato sandwich, with butter on sourdough bread

I could have packed my lunch today, but the rice I had in the fridge just wasn't fresh any more, and I didn't want to cook on a Sunday evening- that's my time to relax. And somehow didn't have the interest to throw together a salad for lunch- I need more substantial food for lunch!

I'm wearing more dresses than I ever did, and I am in the market for a reasonably priced body shaper- hah- they are priced almost as much as my dresses cost! Will keep searching. Which brings me to the dress I was wearing today- I love it! Here it is- Banana Republic, silk, and fits like a dream. There is one more in the store that I particularly like, but am waiting for a sale (tomorrow!)- in fact, there are 3 more sale days this month, but I will try not to go crazier than I have already.

I should have had a mid-morning snack, but didn't carry one- my bad. And after the kidsmeal (which really should be called an adult meal- the adult version should be called garangutan), I just didn't need a mid-afternoon snack, but its hard for me to eschew potato chips- they are a disease! Dinner was very Indian, and my mother would have been proud, but I am happiest with my late-night snack- I adore tomato sandwiches. I have 2 tomato plants going crazy in the backyard, so am freezing most of this year's crop, but it still allows for delicious salads and sandwiches.

Good day!

Exercise:

• Yoga- simple meditating for 10 minutes in the back yard. Cold, but relaxing. I think I'm breathing better.
  

Breakfast:

• A small coffee, with milk
• 2.5 ounces of cheese, cheddar
• 1 slice of bread, whole wheat

Snack:

• 2.5 ounces of cheese, cheddar
• 1 slice of bread, whole wheat

Lunch

• 1.5 servings of rice, white
• 2 servings of lentils
• 1 diet soda

Snack:

• Almonds, 10
  

Dinner:

• Tomato, basil salad
• 3 pieces of dhokla
  

Late night craving:

• 
  

Self-critique:

• Splitting the bread and cheese into breakfast and snack was a good idea. I do get crazy hungry abuit 10:30-11am, and thats when I really want something.
• Went shopping and got some veggies and fruits that are lower in calories (and fat calories) and therefore easier on the liver.
  
• Researched a bit and found out that the following foods are liver friendly:

* beets, asparagus, broccoli,
* green and red cabbage, brussels sprouts
* carrots, squash, okra
* collard greens, mustard greens, kale, romaine lettuce, arugula
* cauliflower
* green beans
* peas
* tomatoes
* spinach
* potatoes, yams, avocado
* onions, garlic, ginger, bell peppers, olives, radishes
* eggs - two a day
* flax seed oil - two tablespoons a day
* olive oil
* apples, grapefruits, oranges, plums, cherries, peach, berries
* cranberry juice
* sesame seeds, cashews, almonds
* pumpkin, papaya, mangoes
* all lettuces except iceberg
* brown rice
* chicken, fish
* all legumes, sprouts of all types
* organic soy milk, almond milk, oat milk, rice milk, distilled water
* honey, maple syrup
* basil, bay leaves, caraway,
* rosemary, dill, parsley, thyme
* oregano, tarragon, chives, cardamom

• Of the above, am certainly not doing the 2 eggs a day bit- just too much.
• Sprouts are a good idea that I am definitely interested in.
  

All in all, a day a better day than yesterday!

Waking up

Its been more than a year since I've posted anything here.
But so much has happened in the past year, that there really has been no time.
I'm barely keeping up the movie blog; this one has been completely neglected.

After the major surgery earlier this year, I lost weight initially, and then suddenly put on almost all of it back. While I have always been curvy and the weight has always distributed itself all over, this time, the weight increase is somehow limited to the upper abdominal area. I ended up doing a boolean search, and found that this is related to the kind of surgery I went through. My body's capacity to break down fats is now down to less than half of its earlier ability, and that translates into weight gain if I continue the pre-surgery lifestyle.

This doesn't make me happy.

Regardless, I don't want to get sicker either. I cant exercise yet, but I've started 15 minutes of light yoga a day, along with a daily walk for 20 minutes, until a few months pass and I can do real exercises.

I am also going to try doing a food diary here, and hopefully I shall stick to it as well.

Today I ate:

Breakfast:

• 5 ounces of cheese, cheddar
• 1.5 slices of bread, whole wheat
• 1 small coffee, skimmed milk

Lunch:

• An In n Out cheeseburger
• 1/2 a serving of fries
• Diet soda

Dinner:

• 2 slices of bread, whole wheat
• eggplant, potato and squash stir fry with nigella seeds
  
• 1 piece of pickle
• A handful of potato chips

Late night cravings:

• Another handful of potato chips

Self critique:

• I don't think I eat a lot, but my diet is obviously lacking in fresh veggies.
• I also intend to limit dairy to 15 ounces a week- I don't drink milk, but the yogurt and cheese need to be limited.
• Plus limit animal protein to once a week- that will be a bit hard, but I can only try.
• Also need to limit potato chips- a lifelong crutch.
• I need to go to fresh and easy tomorrow & get some fresh produce!
• I obviously don't have much of a sweet tooth which is one blessing.
• I need to increase the number of meals I have a day to six- add healthy snacks like almonds and such. Weight gain on the limited amount of food I consume also probably indicates slow metabolism.
  

Tomorrow will be a better day.